By Michael Kinney
The University of Oklahoma basketball program have pulled off the rare double sweep. Not only did the men’s and women’s team beat West Virginia Saturday, but they turned around and saw a pair of Sooners earn Big 12 Player of the Week accolades.
Austin Reaves earned the honor for the men while Madi Williams collected the award for the women.
Reaves is the third Sooner guard to earn the Big 12’s weekly award. He joins Umoja Gibson (Jan. 4) and De’Vion Harmon (Feb. 1).
Reaves led No. 9 Oklahoma to a road win at No. 14 West Virginia on Saturday. That includes hitting the game-winning bucket with 26 seconds remaining in the second overtime.
Reaves racked up a near-triple-double of 28 points, nine rebounds and seven assists while shooting 50 percent from the field and going 7-for-7 at the foul line.
The senior took over after halftime by scoring 22 of his 28 points in the second half and overtimes.
Reaves became just the third player in Big 12 history to produce a game of 28 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, joining Trae Young (2018) and Oklahoma State’s Maurice Baker (2001). He is the only major-conference player with a 28-9-7 game over the last two seasons.
Reaves is the only D-I player averaging at least 16.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists this season.
With their victory over WVU, the Sooners (13-5) now have five wins over squads ranked inside the top-15. That is tied with Ohio State for the most in the nation. They were scheduled to face Texas this week, but inclement weather has forced the game to be postponed. The Sooners are back in action on Saturday when they travel to Iowa State.
Williams averaged a double-double of 24.0 points and 10.5 rebounds per game as she led the Sooners to a pair of wins over Iowa State and West Virginia.
Against Iowa State, Williams scored 27 on 13-for-21 shooting and collected 13 rebounds for her first double-double of the season and the 14th of her career.
Williams’ performance against Iowa State was her fifth game of 25-plus this year and marked the first time since November 2019 that an OU player logged back-to-back games with 25 points or more.
The junior scored 21 at No. 19 West Virginia and sparked OU’s 15-0 run in the fourth quarter to lead the Sooners past the Mountaineers. Williams nearly had a triple-double in that contest as she also pulled down eight rebounds while dishing eight assists to go with her 21 points.
Williams has now won the Big 12 Weekly award twice this season. The OU women will host No. 7 Baylor Saturday.
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Photo Credit: DALE SPARKS